How The Other Half Lives
by Always Brooke
Summary: Completely AU. Rory Hayden and her best friends go to Brighton College (High School) in the U.K. See how they grow up and end up in Yale.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thanks to my beta, luvtheheaven.**

**Chapter One: The Bridge**

"Steph, I don't want to do it." Fourteen-year-old Rory Hayden stood next to her three best friends, Logan Huntzberger, Stephanie Vanderbilt and Colin McCrae, on a bridge near her home. The group had known each other since their first day at the Capital Preparatory Magnet School, where they almost instantly became best friends. Stephanie and Rory were complete opposites, personality-wise, but that was what made their friendship even stronger. They could never stay apart for a long period of time.

"Please, Rory!" Stephanie pleaded. "I don't want to be the only girl to do it. If I can do it, so can you." She knew that Rory wasn't adventurous, but she _had_ agreed to come with them. Rory looked over the bridge railing with fear. She wasn't afraid of heights, but what her friends were proposing was dangerous.

"Rory, it's not like you're going to get hurt. I saw a group of kids who graduated last year do it, and they came out unharmed. If they can do it, so can we," Colin, the most sensible person in the group, said. Colin was always the voice of reason. He knew Rory's concerns were valid, but that was why he always made sure no one could get hurt from Logan's pranks or schemes.

Even though her best friends were trying to reassure her, she still was afraid. She looked at Logan and shook her head. "I really can't do it." He took a few steps towards her and hugged her.

"It'll be fun. It'll be a thrill. Something stupid, something bad for you. Just something different. Isn't this the point of being young? It's your choice, Ace. People can live a hundred years without really living for a minute. You jump down with us; it's one less minute you haven't lived," Logan whispered encouragingly in her ear, hoping this would finally convince her to do it. They had been standing on the bridge for almost half an hour.

Rory looked like she was considering everything that had been said to her. "Are you sure we won't get hurt, Colin?" She saw him nod, and then she took Logan's hand in hers and walked to the edge. She didn't miss the surprised look on her friend's faces, as they too walked to the edge.

"Are you sure Ace? Nobody is forcing you," Logan said to her, as he too looked down toward the water.

Rory just smiled and said "You jump, I jump, Jack," and sprung down with Logan's hand still in hers.

As soon as they landed in the water, they began swimming to the shore. Rory couldn't stop smiling.

"That was soooo much fun! A once in a lifetime experience," she said to Logan as they were sitting on the shore, enjoying the beautiful warm summer day. She was for once glad that school was over and was looking forward to the summer, to spend time with her friends, without having to worry about homework.

"Only if you want it to be, Ace," he replied, looking her straight in the eye and smiling.

"Hey guys, I totally forgot to ask you, where are you going to school next year?" Stephanie asked after a while of silence. She and Rory would be going to Chilton after the summer, but had forgotten to ask the boys if they were joining them or not.

"Uhm…" Colin mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I'm going to a school in Brighton, all the way in the UK. As you know, our parents' firm just merged with a London law firm, and my dad has to move there for a few years in order to stabilize the merger and improve business over there." He was looking at the ground and avoided his friends faces as he told them.

"Why didn't my dad tell me?" Rory questioned. Her father hadn't told her about any of this.

"Look. Rory, I don't know why. I just know that we are leaving about a week before school starts." He sighed. Although to his friends it was obvious that he was upset about this, he'd gotten used to the idea and he wasn't going to dwell on the negative. "Logan, where are you going?" He asked his best friend, trying to put the focus on someone else.

"I was going to go to Chilton, but I'll talk to my dad. He's not around much, so I doubt he'll care whether I'm here or in England. You can't go alone," Logan replied, smiling a little bit at his best friend. The girls were shocked.

"WHAT? YOU CAN'T GO TOO!" Rory roared, her eyes flashing with anger. It was bad enough that one of them had to go, but to lose two friends at once was just terrifying for her.

"Rory, will you calm down?" Logan replied, exasperated. He didn't want to leave the girls behind, but if he had to choose between Colin and the girls, he would choose Colin every time. No one had noticed how quiet Stephanie had been until they heard her whimpering; Rory immediately jumped up and went to hug her best friend. "Steph," Logan said, trying to calm his friend, "it's not the end of the world. We'll still see each other on holidays and such."

"Come on, Rory; let's just go home, we've got things to plan," Steph said after she had calmed down a bit. She knew that the boys would go no matter what, and she didn't want to go to school without them. Rory looked skeptically at her friend, unsure of what said plans would be, but nodded and got up. "We'll see you guys later," Steph added as she and Rory made their way to Rory's house. The boys simply waved, utterly confused by Steph's parting words.

* * *

"Hi, Lorelai!"

"Hi, Mom!" the girls shouted simultaneously as they entered the kitchen. "Could you please invite Steph's parents over for dinner tonight? We want to talk to both of you." Rory asked as she opened the fridge and got out a can of soda for her and Steph to split.

"Don't you think it's a bit last minute, girls?" Lorelai Hayden asked her daughter. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Steph, we love having Nancy and Alex over for dinner, but this is really short notice."

"I know Lorelai, but it's really important," Stephanie said to the woman who was like her second mother, with a look in her eyes that showed she meant it.

"Ok, ok, I'll make it work."

"Thanks, Mom. We'll be upstairs till dinner. Could we meet for drinks in Dad's study after dinner?"

"Sure. Now please tell me what's this all about? I can't just call and say it's important, they'll want to know what's going on."

"Just tell them it's a surprise, Lorelai," Steph replied with a small smile on her lips. "Let's go Ror, we need to plan!" she exclaimed as she began walking out the kitchen with her soda can.

Both girls knew that going to boarding school in England was the right thing to do, but convincing both of their parents that going abroad would be a good idea wouldn't be easy. They had to prepare their arguments and stand their ground, because they did _not_ want to be separated from the boys, but that reason alone wouldn't be good enough for their parents.

Both girls spent the entire afternoon looking over the facts about Brighton, the school and England in general to find the best arguments for going. As soon as Steph's parents arrived that evening, dinner had been served. Both girls were too afraid to spill their plan during dinner, so they remained silent, which confused both set of parents, as they knew the girls couldn't stop talking when in the same room.

After dinner, they all gathered in Christopher's study, curious about what the girls had to tell them. When their idea had finally been revealed, both sets of parents, as expected, weren't thrilled about the idea. Lorelai insisted that she would miss too much of her daughter's life, a sentiment which Nancy, Steph's mom, shared. Chris argued that it was not safe for them to go. Rory argued that Colin's parents, James and Alice, would be there in case anything should happen. After two hours of lengthy discussion, the parents finally agreed to their plea, if they promised to get good grades and stay home for this summer. Their parents had promised to call the school first thing in the morning. The girls hugged in celebration and agreed.

"I can't believe we're going! We must call the boys!" Rory exclaimed as the girls exited the study, extremely happy. "Do you think Logan convinced Mitchum and Shira that he should go too?"

"No, no. Let them stew until tomorrow," Steph said cruelly. "I'll write them a text to meet us here tomorrow morning." She was mad that Colin had kept it from them for so long. "And of course he convinced them; they couldn't care less. I mean, Honor is still in Switzerland, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Rory replied. "I completely forgot about that."

After Stephanie left with plans to come back early next morning, Rory made her way to her bedroom. She was so excited about going abroad with her friends to study at one of the best high schools in the world, even though that meant leaving her family behind. As she was lying in bed, she thought of a famous quote by Bill Watterson. "Things are never as scary when you've got a best friend." She knew that her friends would be there for her when she got homesick, or had any other problems. Her friends were the family that she had chosen and were just as good as her real family.

The conversation with the boys the next morning went really well. The girls learned that Logan had also been able to successfully convince his parents that going to England was the right decision for him. Lorelai Trix Gilmore, Rory's great grandmother, lived in London and promised to decorate Rory and Steph's bedrooms, and the plans became finalized over the next couple of weeks. Then, the group had gone to Martha's Vineyard, where they always spent the summer. Logan had stayed with Colin's parents, because his couldn't be troubled to go on vacation with their children, which was why Honor was staying in Switzerland for the summer. Both Steph's and Rory's parents had also gone, and spent most of their time together with Colin's parents, making barbecues and going to the many society events on the island together. Lorelai and Nancy had both demanded that their girls get a whole new wardrobe for England, because the weather was so much colder there. Rory had tried to protest, saying she wouldn't need it because she had to wear the school uniform, but she was quickly silenced by Stephanie, who was overjoyed to get new clothes.

Now the summer was over, and today was the day. In only a few hours, Steph, Logan, Rory and Lorelai would be getting on the plane to meet Colin and his family in London, who had gone the week before to get settled in their London apartment. Lorelai was only coming in order to make sure the kids got there alright, because she and the other parents still thought they were too young to go alone on the plane.

Rory couldn't believe it was almost time to leave; it had seemed like only yesterday she had asked her parents to go to Brighton. She ate her waffles slower than she normally would have. It would be a very long time before she would have her Dad's waffles again and she wanted to savor them. She wanted to memorize everything about this day.

"You okay, babe?" Lorelai asked bringing Rory out of her daze.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little sad, but excited. And nervous, but mostly excited," she said trying to assure herself as much as her mother.

"You're gonna be fine, sweetie. You're gonna love Brighton. And Brighton is gonna love you. And don't forget, London is less than two hours away, so you can always visit your great-grandmother. And even if things get rough, you have Steph, Colin and Logan there to help you."

"Thanks, Mom, you're right. Are you sure you aren't mad I'm going to England?"

"Well babe, you'll never truly know until you read my memoir."

Lorelai smiled at her daughter. It would be hard for her to be apart from her only daughter, but she knew it would be good for Rory and her friends to get away from the Hartford society for a couple of years, to grow into their own person, before having to put on a fake smile every weekend at some society event.

Even though she'd had her daughter at sixteen, Lorelai had been welcomed into the high society community where they lived, mostly due to her marriage to Christopher and their financial success. Chris had gone to Princeton after high school and after seven years finally gotten his Princeton law degree, which enabled him to work at his father's law firm. The whole seven years, Chris had commuted to New Jersey every day, so he could see his daughter every night. Now, only six years later, he was the Hayden in McCrae, Hayden & Associates, and she couldn't be prouder of her husband. Her mother had wanted Lorelai to become a typical society wife, but Lorelai loved her independence too much to do that, and the society events weren't enough for her, which is why she opened her own inn two years after Chris had gotten his law degree. The Dragonfly Inn was doing well; in a travel magazine it had been named one of the best inns in Connecticut, which made her and her whole family very proud. Over the past two years she had been thinking about opening another inn, because she didn't have to do much to keep the Dragonfly Inn running. She had really competent workers who did it for her, most of the time. And with Rory leaving for London, she would have all the time she'd need to begin planning the new inn.

Lorelai was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the doorbell. "Well, that must be the Vanderbilts; I bet Steph had been tormenting them since seven this morning to go." She said to herself with a smile on her face, happy that Rory wasn't going alone to Brighton. She knew her daughter was excited to go, but didn't know if Rory was more excited or nervous about the new environment, which is why she was grateful that Steph would be there to help. Maybe she would finally succeed in getting Rory out of her shell.

"Good morning, Nancy, Alex." She turned to look at the girl. "Steph, Rory is in the kitchen, and there are still some of Chris's waffles, if you hurry." She greeted them.

"Thanks, Lorelai!" she replied as she hurried to the kitchen, not wanting to miss out on Chris's famous waffles. Lorelai and her parents were just about to follow them when the doorbell rang again.

"That must be the Huntzbergers." She smiled as she opened the door.

"Hello Lorelai, I hope we aren't too late," Mitchum said as he greeted her.

"Mitchum, when have you ever been too late? Logan, if you hurry, you can steal some waffles from Steph." Logan waved to Lorelai and the Vanderbuilts, before he too hurried to the kitchen, leaving all the adults alone in the foyer.

"With him hurrying like that, it almost seems as if we don't feed him at home." Mitchum laughed.

"Relax; we know the kids only love us because of Chris's waffles." Lorelai laughed. "Now, come on, let's go wait in the parlor, there's no need to stand here."

"I'd love to Lorelai, but I have to go to work. I just wanted to thank you for taking Logan, and he promised me he'd be on his best behaviour during the flight."

"I'm sure he won't be a problem. I'll have him call you as soon as we land," she replied.

"Thank you. Have a good flight," he said as he turned to leave the house. As soon as he was out, Nancy turned to Lorelai.

"No wonder Logan is so happy go get away; his father couldn't even take the morning off to drop him off at the airport," she said with disdain in her voice. "And Shira, I would've thought she could cut her visit at the spa in Nevada short for her son." Whereas all the children got along, the situation with the parents was different. The McCraes, Vanderbilts and Haydens had a good relationship with each other and their children, whereas the Huntzbergers were happy to never spend time with their children, and they were not true friends with the other three sets of parents either. This was largely due to Shira thinking that she was above everyone else. So they only socialized with each other when they had to arrange things for the children and at society parties.

"Nancy, calm down," Alex said to his wife. "We've known this about them for six years; don't let it bother you today. We've got Steph to think about." He wanted to prevent her rambling on.

"Yes, sorry. I'm just sad that Steph's going away and it always aggravates me that Logan's parents couldn't care less about him."

"Well, that's where we come in, Nan. We are his surrogate parents!" Lorelai proclaimed happily. "Now come, let's go see if the kids are ready, 'cause we've gotta leave soon."

**Author's note: I hoped you guys liked. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Again, I'd like to thank my beta, luvtheheaven.**

**Chapter Two: The Americans**

Even though the girls were excited that tomorrow would be their first day at Brighton, they were slightly nervous. Had they gone to Chilton, they would know who to befriend and who to avoid, but they didn't have that advantage here. Both were happy that Trix, Rory's great-grandmother, had decorated their room prior to their arrival, because it meant less stress for them. They had only needed to unpack, which Lorelai had helped them do before leaving about an hour ago. Trix had gone to great lengths to make the rooms, which would be Rory's and Steph's homes for the next four years, as comfortable as possible. For each, a new bed had been ordered, along with a small armchair and dozens of throw pillows. The bedrooms also contained big desks. Rory set up her laptop on top of hers. In addition, Trix had the walls painted a pale red; the same color as Rory's room back in Hartford was, hoping to make her great-granddaughter feel more at home. The common room had turned out even better; it had a big leather loveseat, media furniture complete with a big flat screen TV, a DVD-player, surround sound speakers, and a fancy coffee maker which Lorelai had bought, thinking her daughter would need it to get up in the mornings. Trix had even bought a small DVD collection, with all of Rory's favourite movies. When all of Rory's and Steph's books had been unpacked, they had been put on the bookshelf in the common room.

While Rory loved how well her dorm room turned out, she felt as far from 'at home' as possible. She missed everything about Hartford: her house, her room, her window seat, and most of all, her parents.

"Your great-grandmother did a terrific job with our rooms!" Rory heard Steph call out from her bedroom. "Want to go find the boys? Or do you just wanna watch a movie and settle in?" At Brighton College, the girls' and boys' dorms were in two different buildings.

"I told Logan to come and find us, when they are finished unpacking. I thought they would need more time than us, seeing as how we had my Mom to help, but they have to do it all themselves." Lorelai had been there the whole afternoon to help the girls unpack their things, but had said her goodbyes and headed back to the airport an hour ago. "We could go find the dining hall; I'm getting pretty hungry."

"When _aren't_ you hungry, Ror?" Steph replied with a laugh. All their friends and family knew that Rory ate almost as much, if not more than the boys did, which caused her other girlfriends to be envious of her, because she somehow still had such a nice figure. "I swear, one day you're going to get fat, and I'm going to say 'I told you so.'"

"Steph, you know my Mom eats more than me, and she's nowhere near fat. So, I'd guess I'm going to be ok in that department." She laughed. Even after fourteen years of marriage, her father still wondered how his wife could eat so much junk food and not have a gym membership, yet never gain wait. Rory grabbed a jacket from the hanger and went to the door. "Are you coming, or do I have to go alone?"

"Wait a second, let me just get my sweater!"

By the time they'd made it to the dining hall, dinner was well under way. Before moving here, both girls had thought that a dining hall was simply a nicer way to say cafeteria, but as they entered, they realized how different it truly was. The hall was large but at the same time welcoming, which was very different from the cafeteria at their old school. There were about twenty large wooden tables that seated at least ten people each, and currently at them they saw teachers and students eating together and conversing. Along one wall there was the buffet counter, which had something for everyone: vegetarian choices, junk food, sandwiches, soups, salads and many other things. Rory debated what to get, and in true Gilmore fashion decided to try fish and chips, as it was the one choice being served that day which she had never eaten before. After getting their food, the girls looked around and spotted an empty table near the back of the room and both walked over there. The boys would be able to find them there and they'd have open seats waiting for them whenever they arrived. Rory looked around the hall and got the feeling that this school was just one big happy family; every table was conversing and laughing. They had barely started eating their dinner when a redheaded girl approached them.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Both girls looked up, surprised they had been spoken to. They exchanged glances and nodded to the girl. "I'm Rosemary Lester, I'm in 9th grade." She had an American accent, which surprised the girls.

"Nice to meet you, Rosemary. I'm Lorelai Hayden, and this is Stephanie Vanderbilt, but everybody calls us Rory and Steph. And we are also in 9th grade," Rory said with a smile. "You're American, right?"

"Yeah. Nice to see I'm not the only one in our grade that is."

"Well, we'll be five Americans then. Two friends of ours, Logan Huntzberger and Colin McCrae, are also American," Steph added with a smile. "Where exactly are you from?"

"Oh, that's nice to hear. I'm from Boston, Massachusetts. And you?"

"We're from Hartford, Connecticut,"Rory answered. All three girls laughed. "We're practically neighbours!" Steph exclaimed.

"My dad goes to Boston every two weeks for business." Rory exclaimed

"Oh well , how did you guys end up here?"

"Well, you see… Colin, the guy we mentioned earlier? His family had to move here to England for business. So Rory, Logan, and I decided we should join him at school here," Steph said with a smile, thinking of the boys.

"Did I just hear someone mention my family?" they heard a familiar voice ask. Three heads shot to the right, and Steph immediately jumped up from her chair to hug Colin. "No need to attack me, Steph. It hasn't been that long," he said with a laugh.

"Sorry for my friend's rudeness. I'm Logan Huntzberger, and the oaf hugging Stephanie is Colin McCrae," Logan said with his dashing smile, extending his hand to her.

"No need to apologize. I'm Rosemary Lester." She said with a dashing smile of her own. In the meantime, Rory had replaced Steph in Colin's arms.

"Very nice to meet you, Rosemary," Colin said as he let go of Rory in order to shake Rosemary's hand.

"Come on, boys. Sit!" Steph almost yelled. "You have to tell me what you've been doing."

"Sorry, Steph. We still have to go get our dinner, but I promise we'll be right back." As soon as he said it, he and Logan were making their way to the buffet counter.

"So, those are your friends?" Rosemary asked with a smile, looking after the boys.

"Yeah." Rory answered, not knowing what else to say. "Hope you don't mind if they sit here, we haven't seen Colin in a week. Which for us equals a year," she added with a laugh.

Soon enough, the boys were back and the fivesome enjoyed a nice meal together, getting to know each other. Rory enjoyed her fish and chips, somewhat surprised with how much the meal tasted a lot like french fries and fish sticks, two things she _had_ eaten before back in ony thing missing, was ketchup, but the Tartare Sauce was tasty enough. Both Steph and Rosemary had also opted for a salad. Steph always tried to eat as healthy as humanly possible, and usually Rory wouldn't choose to eat nearly as many vegetables, but the salad bar had actually looked delicious so for once, Rory followed her friend's suit. They chatted about their lives and had learned that it was also Rosemary's first year in Brighton, and that her father had sent her here, because he was always away on business. They found it a bit strange that she didn't mention her mother, but they didn't want to ask her about it. She would tell them about her when and if she wanted to.

It hadn't taken them long to finish eating, and as the girls put down their forks, they wondered if the guys had even chewed their food, because they had eaten so quickly. One would think that the girls would have finished their meal before the boys, but that wasn't the case. Rory thought that the guys had left their table manners back in Hartford, because the way they were eating, resembled more a pig than a human. After everyone was done eating, the group went together to drop off their trays and made their way outside to sit in the courtyard, planning to continue chatting. They were happy that the sun was still out this summer evening, which meant it wasn't too chilly yet. The girls were sitting on the benches, while the guys were sitting on what looked like a freshly mowed lawn.

"Do you guys remember that time I put super glue on Mr. Richardson's chair?" Logan asked with a laugh.

"I only remember us both getting detention for it, even though I had _nothing_ to do with it," Colin replied with a sneer. It aggravated him that whenever Logan got into trouble, he also got into trouble.

"Colin, it's not his fault that the teachers always thought you did everything together," Steph added, trying to calm Colin down. She knew if he had his way, he would begin a tirade about the unfairness of it all, although they had all heard that speech at least a thousand times.

"And it's not like you're so innocent either, mister," Rory teased. "I remember you help Logan prank his dad. While he kept his father busy, you changed the placard on his desk. And for two whole weeks, Mr. Huntzberger had a placard that read 'world's worst dad' on it." As she finished, the whole gang was laughing, four of them remembering how Mr Huntzberger had yelled for fifteen minutes straight, and Rosemary finding the story simply hilarious as she heard it for the first time.

"Colin, we have to come up with a couple of pranks. And the best day to them is the first, 'cause nobody will be expecting it," Logan chuckled. At Capital Preparatory Magnet School, he had been known for his pranks and he wanted to be known for them here as well.

"Could you guys just give it a rest? We haven't been here a whole day and you already want to get into trouble," Rory said, exasperated. She knew the boys wouldn't change, but she hoped they would at least wait.

"We won't get caught, Ace," Logan whined.

"Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, every time you do a prank – right before you get caught." Rory laughed.

As the sky began to darken, Rosemary stood up. "It was really nice getting to know all of you, but for me it's getting a bit chilly." She, unlike the other girls, hadn't brought a sweater with her. "Steph and Rory, I'll wait outside your dorm tomorrow morning, that way we can go to breakfast together." After seeing them nod, she waved at the boys and was off.

"She was pretty nice; too bad she isn't your roommate" Logan said.

"Doesn't matter, we got a two-person dorm," Steph added.

"You girls are lucky; we have to share with another guy that we haven't even met yet." Colin sighed. He seemed nervous. Most people wouldn't notice it, but he was the shiest of the group, which actually had been another reason the gang had decided to join him.

"Relax man; I'm sure he'll be cool enough," Logan replied. "Let's go see if he's arrived by now. We don't want to wait to meet him first thing in the morning when we're busy getting ready for the school day. We'll see you girls for breakfast, right?" he asked as he stood up.

"Of course! Come on, Steph, let's get going. We can still watch a movie before the headmistress rings the bell." The rest of the gang looked confused at her statement. "Didn't you guys read the manual? At ten o'clock the headmistress or headmaster of your House chimes a bell, to signal that the 10th graders and below have to go to bed. In the 11th grade they let you to go to bed whenever you want." The group laughed at Rory as she explained.

"You're aware, that even if the bell chimes, you don't _have_ to go to sleep, right?" Logan asked with a laugh.

"I don't want to get into trouble, so yeah, I do _have_ to," she replied, standing up. "Come on, Steph. I want to watch Willy Wonka!" she exclaimed, pulling Steph behind her as she started to make her way back to their House. "Goodnight, boys."

The first day of school arrived too quickly for both girls. After getting back to their room and hearing the bell ring, both girls changed into their pyjamas and turned on the TV and DVD player. It was weird for them to hear noises outside their door; at home it was always so quiet and here the activity never seemed to stop. Girls were yelling after each other in the hall, or simply walking through the corridor on high heels and Rory and Steph could hear everything. But instead of dwelling on it, they just turned the volume louder and started their movie. In Rory's home, no Gilmore-Hayden movie night had ever been complete without candy, popcorn, or another treat, so Lorelai had brought a big supply of snacks for them, knowing that the girls would do similar movie nights to pass their time. It had been a long and exciting day for both of them, and both decided to turn in right after the movie, not wanting to be tired during their first day of school.

Even though it was the same kind of mattress that she slept on at home, that night Rory had trouble falling asleep for the first time in her life. She usually talked to her mother before going to sleep and tonight that wasn't an option, as Lorelai was now probably on the plane going back home. She had a million thoughts running through her mind, about school and how everything would go. It was comforting to hear Steph snore, because it reminded her of home, but it didn't surprise her. Steph, unlike her, didn't dwell on things; she just faced them head on, without caring what the outcome could be. It had taken Rory more than an hour to finally asleep, but when she did, she still tossed and turned all night, overly nervous about her first day of school.

**Author's note: I'd like to thank everyone so much for their reviews! I'm going to try and update every 3 to 4 days. **


	3. Chapter Three - The First Day

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. As always, thanks to my beta, luvtheheaven.**

**Chapter Three: The First Day**

When the alarm went off, Rory reluctantly got out of her warm and very comfortable bed. She padded over to her closet and pulled out her uniform. According to the furry clock on her nightstand, another thing Lorelai had insisted on buying, she had a little over an hour before the dining hall started serving breakfast, and a little over two hours before her first class. She was about to head to the shower when she wondered if Steph was awake yet, but ultimately decided to wait to check on her until after her shower. Halfway through her shower, the door to the bathroom opened.

"Could you hurry up? I take a lot longer than you to get ready!" she heard Steph yell from the doorway, or at least what she _hoped_ was the doorway.

"Get out! I'll be out soon!" she yelled back at her friend of six years. She hadn't thought about what living together would be like; she had no idea how long Steph took in the morning to get ready. As she finished her shower, she put on her bathrobe and slowly made her way to her room, passing Steph. "We'll make a schedule later; that way you won't have to yell at me before I've had my coffee." As Rory made her way into her room, she saw Steph nod and then hurry to the bathroom.

Normally, Rory'd put her hair up, not wanting it to get in the way. However, it was the first day of a new era. And the new and improved Rory decided to curl her hair. Rory usually only wore make-up on special occasions like fancy parties, but today she applied a touch of mascara and some lip gloss. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled, pleased with what she saw. As she exited her room, she saw Steph, looking as beautiful as ever in their school uniform, with her long blond hair also down. It was flowing around her face.

Rory was wearing a short, pleated skirt that ended an inch or so lower than what was required, and a pair of thin black tights. A fitted shirt hung on her curves, but not too tightly, and a boy's tie was hung loosely around her neck. Her blazer was hanging loosely on her shoulders and was not tucked in. Rory had even put on couple of broaches as jewelry above the school logo. She had on new Jimmy Choos, as Steph had reminded her that this type of shoe would actually be allowed. Some bracelets and a watch decorated her wrists, as well as a ring that her mother had given her before she'd left.

Before leaving, Rory poured the coffee she had made in her pink, stylish, stainless steel travel mug, another thing Lorelai had bought. Lorelai had said that anything that people expect to be ugly should be pink. As promised, Rosemary stood outside their door.

"Hey, Rosemary. Sleep well?" Rory asked, taking a sip of the delicious coffee. Her mother had gotten her not only the mug, but also quality beans.

"Hey, girls! Yes, I did, even though it's a bit strange to not be at home anymore. And you?" Rosemary inquired as they began to make their way to the dining hall. It was only a short walk from their own building.

"I slept great," Steph replied.

"I didn't sleep that well; probably just nerves, you know? And this morning wasn't that great either, with Steph barging in on my shower," Rory declared, pointedly looking at Steph.

"I already apologized for that Rory!" Stephanie whined. "You know I didn't mean to barge in like that; I'm not used to other people sharing my bathroom."

"Well love, let me tell ya: I'd have loved to barge in," an unknown boy with an Australian accent commented. Both girls looked behind them to see a dark haired, tall boy standing there with an amused smile on his lips.

"Excuse me; who are you? And who invited you to this conversation?" Rory asked with a venomous tone.

"G'day, my loves. My name is Finnegan Morgan, the third. And who might you be?" the Australian boy asked with a lazy smile on his lips. He was obviously flirting with them, but neither Steph nor Rory had the patience to deal with him now.

"No one that should concern you," Steph replied before she turned away to head inside the dining hall. Rory and Rosemary quickly followed her, eager to get in line for breakfast.

Unfortunately, Finn followed them inside. They then heard a familiar voice scream, "Yo, Finn! Wait up, man!" Both turned to see Logan and Colin rushing towards both them and the Australian boy "Good morning, girls," Colin said, kissing them each on the cheek, not noticing the glares both girls were sending Finn. "Have you met our roommate?" Both girls were flabbergasted at this revelation.

"They've met me mate, but I haven't gotten their names yet," the Australian replied.

"And it will stay that way," Steph snidely replied as she got oatmeal, orange juice and an apple from the counter. "Let's go, Rory, Rosemary," she added as she saw that both girls had already gotten their breakfast on their trays. The group of girls quickly walked to an empty table and seated themselves.

"Let's just forget about him," Rosemary said, trying to change the subject. She hadn't realized that Colin, Finn and Logan had already seated themselves their table.

"She really barged in on you, Ror?" Logan asked, cocking one of his eyebrows. Finn had told him about the conversation he had overheard.

"Yeah, told me to hurry up, was no big deal," Rory mumbled, embarrassed that now _all_ her friends knew what had happened that morning. She quickly gulped her coffee, hoping someone would change the subject.

After seeing Rory's cheeks redden a bit, Rosemary stated, "So, I see you've met your roommate for the next four years." "Yeah. Everybody, this is Finnegan Morgan. Finn, these are Rosemary, Rory and Steph." Colin introduced them, pointing at each girl as he said their names.

"We know; we've met," Steph said with disdain.

"That's not right, my love. You'd met me, but I hadn't met you yet!" Finn exclaimed.

"Whatever."

"You wound me, love. How will I ever survive without you?" Finn said dramatically to the blond.

"I don't care," she replied snidely, standing up. "Ror? Rose? You ready to go?" Rory just nodded and got up, even though she hadn't had finished her breakfast. She knew that Steph had to get away - otherwise a fight would break out. She was happy to see Rosemary also standing up.

"Come on, Ace! Stay a little longer; we haven't even talked yet," Logan said, hurt that his friends were leaving.

"We've got to go meet the Headmistress for our timetables and then we've got mass. We'll see you guys there; promise!" Rory said as the girls left.

* * *

Mass had been just as boring as Rory had thought it would be. Sure, the church where they had the mass was nice, but she wasn't spiritual, and had to bite back a laugh when she saw Logan sleeping during the service. Her friends had the same views as she; if someone wanted to believe in God, then that was their prerogative, but they didn't. After that, the day had gone smoothly, even though everyone had been a bit disappointed with their timetables. The girls had all their classes together, and were only joined by the boys for Math, English and Chinese. In Algebra II, Rory would sit with Colin, and in English she'd be with Logan, while Stephanie would do the reverse and sit with Logan in Math and Colin in English. That way, everybody got help were they needed it. Logan and Rory's strength was English, whereas Colin and Steph's strength was Math. It had pleased Rory that the classes were much smaller; only nineteen pupils per class, which meant more attention from their teachers and a better chance to learn. While that pleased _her_ and her similarly minded new friend, Rosemary, the rest of the gang wasn't too excited about it because it meant they actually had to pay attention to classes.

The day had flown by and now the gang, plus Finn, was once again sitting in the courtyard, chatting. During lunch, Finn had approached their table and immediately apologized to the girls. He told them he hadn't meant to come across as a creep, but innuendos were part of his charming persona. The girls had been reluctant to accept his apology, but after he promised to never exaggerate in his flirting again, they allowed him to join them. The only problem with that was that they now couldn't get him to shut up for even one second. He wanted to make it clear to the girls that he really meant what he said and would do anything to make that clear to them.

"Finn, would you please stop? We've accepted your apology; you don't have to do anything more to make us believe you!" Steph exclaimed. She was getting fed up with his apologies. She understood that he was really sorry, but he had to stop overdoing it.

"Sorry Steph," he answered sheepishly.

"Is anybody joining any clubs?" Rory asked excitedly, trying to change the subject.

"Ace, calm down. It's only the first day of school."

"Huntz, not everybody is like you; some of us like to plan ahead," Rory stated firmly.

"Still doesn't mean you have to sign up to anything on the first day of school. Just enjoy it, alright? I promise you, soon enough you'll have plenty homework to do, and then you'll be happy to take a break."

"I joined the Mathletes today. Our teacher saw my records, and told me I_ had_ to join." Colin grimaced. He was a studious boy, but that didn't mean he didn't like to just relax, and joining the Mathletes certainly didn't count as relaxing in his book. "Can you guys believe that they meet three times a week?" He sighed.

"Oh Colin, we all know you'll love it. You love hanging out with people who are like you," Steph began. "You know? The ones with sticks up their asses," she added with a laugh. Rory and Logan also had to laugh; Steph always said that to Colin.

"Then why do I hang out with you guys?" He snorted.

"Because you love us, and can't live without us?" Rory pouted, while giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Guess you're right." He laughed.

"Beautiful Rosemary, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Finn flirted.

"There isn't much to tell." She shrugged. "Born and raised in Boston, grew up in society, love to read and go horseback riding. That's about it."

"Come on love, there's got to be more!" Finn exclaimed. "Nobody is that boring." By now Rosemary was flustered and looking everywhere, except toward the gang.

"Finn, just leave her alone. Can't you see she doesn't want to talk about it?" Rory hissed. She didn't know Rosemary that well, but everybody knew that she would go to hell and back for her friends, and it was obvious that Rosemary now was one of her friends. She saw Rosemary smiling at her in gratitude, and that was all she needed. "So why don't you tell us about yourself?" Rory asked. "How does an Australian end up in boarding school in England?"

"Love, wouldn't you just love to hear that?" Finn laughed. "Actually it's not that complicated. No school in Australia wanted me, Dad wanted to move, and now here we are. Well I am, and he's in Tokyo."

"How did he end up in Tokyo?" Rory, always the curious one, asked.

"We are setting up some new hotels there. We've already got them all over the world, except Asia and South America. So as the boss, he had to go oversee everything." Finn shrugged. For him it was no big deal that his parents' took them all over the world and he knew his friend's parents sort of had the same lifestyle.

* * *

The first week had gone smoothly for the Hartford gang, plus their new friends. It taken the girls a few days to get used to Finn's outgoing personality, but other than that, they hadn't had any major problems. Lorelai had called Rory a few times, to make sure she was getting comfortable in her home away from home, and although she had already gotten homesick, Rory was still sure she'd made the best decision. On the first Friday of the new school year, the gang had gathered in Rory's and Steph's common room to do a traditional Gilmore-Hayden movie night with junk food and take out, which they had gotten earlier in the evening instead of dinner. The girls couldn't believe it when they'd heard that the guys had signed on for the rugby team, knowing it was just as hard as American football. The girls surprised them with a visit to their first training, mostly to see them get smashed, but also to show their support. Steph had joined the Digital Photography Club, because she had always loved to take pictures of her friends, but also because Rosemary was a hobby photographer. What hadn't surprised anyone was Rory joining the college newspaper; they all knew how much she loved to write.

"I'm glad the first week is over!" Steph cried out as she plunged herself on the loveseat. Everybody laughed and nodded their heads, agreeing with her. It had been fun, but also very tiring. Not knowing where their next lessons were only ensured that Colin, Logan and Finn had to run to most of their classes in order to be on time, which amused the girls, because they walked at a slow pace to class and still made it there before the boys. The gang usually only met up at class, or when they didn't have morning classes together, for lunch, because the boys were almost always late for breakfast. They always blamed Finn, saying he just took forever to wake up and it seemed cruel to let him walk alone to classes, when they had them together.

Rory was just about to say something when her cellphone went off. She quickly got up and went to her room.

"Fruit of my loins!"

Rory smiled as she heard her mother's voice on the phone. "Hey mom! How's it going?"

"My mother decided to throw a party." She heard her mother mumble. Even though Emily and Lorelai saw each other regularly for dinners or teas, they still didn't have the best relationship with each other, because Emily disapproved of Lorelai's choice to work rather than be a society wife.

"So, is this party Grandma's having gonna be a big deal?"

"Not really. The government will close that day. Flags will fly at half-mast. Barbara Streisand

will give her final concert…again. Now, the Pope has previous plans, but he's trying to get out of them. However, Elvis and Jim Morrison are coming and they're bringing chips."

"You ask a simple question." Rory mumbled amused into the phone. She knew, almost better than even her father, her mothers' quirks and had gotten used to them over the years.

"But enough about me! Tell your momma how the first week went." And just as requested, Rory recounted the story of her first week in Brighton College, not leaving any details out. After almost half an hour, she heard someone knocking on her bedroom door; she had completely forgotten that all her friends were there.

"Mom, I'll call you tomorrow or Sunday, alright? The whole gang is here for our movie night!"

"Sure thing, babe."

**Author's note: Please review, 'cause they keep me happy and writing :D **


	4. Chapter Four - The Brit

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and thanks to my beta luvtheheaven**

**Chapter Four: The Brit**

The first semester at Brighton had gone better than anyone had hoped. Rosemary, Rory and Steph had gotten extremely close; where one of them was, the other wasn't far away, and the same could be said about Colin, Finn and Logan. Rory and Steph weren't as close to Colin and Logan as they had been the previous years, but that was to be expected with living in different buildings, and having few classes and none of the offered activities together. Also, puberty had begun to drive them apart, but they still met up at least once a week in one of their dorms to chat, study, goof around and talk about what was going on with their parents. Now, midterms were starting which for Rory, meant a lot of stress. While the boys, Steph and Rosemary did study, nobody studied as hard as Rory. The two weeks leading up to midterms she couldn't be seen without a book in her hands, trying to learn everything even though she already knew ninety percent of it. That's why on the eve of one test she decided to call her mother.

"Can brains hurt?" She blurted out as soon as she heard someone pick up her house phone.

"Yes, it's hypochondria hour," she heard her mother answer.

"No, I'm serious. Last night when I was reading my biology chapters I distinctly heard a ping in the vicinity of my brain."

"Your brain pinged?" Her mother asked with a laugh.

"Yeah. It just went like 'dink'," she answered seriously.

"Well then, honey, your brain dinked. It didn't ping."

"Well I hardly think a dinking brain is better than a pinging brain." The back and forth banter with her mother always seemed to lift up her spirits when she was a bit down.

"Hon, before I forget to tell you, Trix is flying home with you guys."

"How's Grandma handling it?"

"Well, she already called me like a hundred times, asking for my Christmas and birthday presents back, 'cause apparently they were gifts from Trix to her. In other words, World War III is fast approaching."

"Good to know. Mom, I'll call you later, I've only got like twenty minutes till dinner, and the gang will kill me if I come too late."

Rory hurried to put on her shoes and to run to the dining hall; she was absolutely famished and knew the gang was waiting for her there. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she was barley looking where she was going, and suddenly she collided with someone and started to fall to the floor. Just as she started to brace herself for the impact, an arm caught her and steadied her. Rory looked up for the first time and was met by a pair of beautiful blue eyes. The boy they belonged to was a blond and equally beautiful. He flashed her a dazzling smile before extending his hand in introduction. "Hi, I'm Matthew McCallister."

"Nice to meet you; I'm Lorelai Gilmore, but you can call me Rory," she replied, blushing. She had been in England for months, but still found the British accent amazing.

"Well, then you can call me Matt. May I accompany you to supper?"

"I'm sorry; not tonight. I was supposed to meet my friends." She looked at her watch. "Ten minutes ago. I'm sorry, I've got to go," she said apologeticly, and ran off to the dining hall. She knew that she hadn't been polite to Matt, but she didn't want to miss seeing her friends because of a boy. As she finally arrived, she saw her friends sitting at their usual table and waved, signaling that she had to get her food.

"Hey, Ace. How nice of you to join us," Logan teased with his trademark smirk on his lips as Rory took a seat next to him and began eating.

"Oh hush Logan, leave her alone. She probably lost track of time since she was studying," Steph rebuked, but was shocked as Rory shook her head. "If you weren't studying, what were you doing, Ror?"

After swallowing the food in her mouth, she blushed. "Well, I'd been on the phone with my mom, then ran here, but ran into a guy, which made me even later," she said really fast, hoping nobody heard her or saw her blush. Steph looked at her, shocked, but decided to ignore it for the moment.

"Did you guys hear the school is having a ball? Ror, Rose, we've got to go to London after midterms to buy our dresses." The Saturday after their last midterms the school was having a Christmas ball to send off the pupils for their winter break.

"I'll call Trix and ask her if she can send a car for us," Rory replied, not really paying that much attention. Her mind was still on Matt.

"That would be amazing! We haven't been to London since we arrived here, and that was months ago!" Steph said excitedly. "We've got so much to plan!"

"Steph, calm down. We've got midterms to think about; afterwards you can plan, alright?" Rosemary sighed. She loved Steph, but sometimes she thought the girl had ADHD. She looked over to Rory, who for the first time in weeks didn't have a book in her hands. "Ror, Steph, will you come with me? I've forgotten something in my dorm," she asked, hoping to get Rory away from everyone, to ask what was going on.

But it seemed like Rory was so lost in thought that she hadn't heard her.

"Earth to Rory, hello!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in front of Rory's face.

"Oh, yeah, let's go," Rory muttered, getting up.

"What's wrong, Ace?"

"It's nothing Logan, catch you guys later," Rosemary proclaimed as she and the girls made their way to the exit.

"Want to tell me what's wrong? Or better yet, who you ran into?" Rosemary asked as soon as they were outside. As soon as she mentioned the guy, Rory's frown turned into a smile.

"Oh, Matthew McCallister."

"Wait! You met the most popular guy at the school?" Steph asked excitedly.

"Steph, I just bumped into him as I was coming to meet you guys. It was no big deal," she sighed. It was probably best if she didn't tell Steph that he had asked her if he could accompany her to dinner.

"Of course it's a big deal. Maybe he'll ask you to the dance."

"I spoke to him for all of five seconds; he probably doesn't even remember me," she sighed once again. She knew Steph would always jump to conclusions, but she really didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

"Well, if you think that, you shouldn't look up to see who's coming our way," Rosemary added happily. She saw Matthew McCallister with his friends, who were all coming toward the bench where the girls were sitting.

"Hi, Rory. Got to supper without bumping into anyone else, I hope," he said as he reached them, showing them his dazzling smile that always made girls weak at knees.

"Hi, Matt. Nah, only three more guys," she laughed.

"And here I was, thinking I was someone special. You really hurt me, Rory," he pouted.

"However will I make it up to you, Matt?" she asked, laughing. The girl really knew how to flirt. He wondered if she was doing it on purpose. She was desperately trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks; she would be surprised if she didn't look like a tomato at the moment.

"Well, I know just the thing you can do to make it up to me." As he saw her nod, he continued, "You could come to the ball with me."

"Me? Go with you?" She stuttered, suddenly embarrassed.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have asked," he replied, meeting her gaze and smiling.

"Uhm... Sure. I'll go with you," she answered, not really knowing what else to say. It almost felt like a dream: the most popular guy in their year asking her to the only ball of the year. She heard her girlfriends giggling, and quickly narrowed her eyes at them, which quickly shut them up, as they didn't want to anger their friend.

"Ace!" she heard Logan yell as he was coming near them.

"Yes, Logan?" she asked loudly, annoyed that he had to yell every time he saw her.

"Rory, why did you just respond to that guy saying, 'brilliant'?" Matthew asked, utterly confused.

"He didn't say 'brilliant', he said 'Ace'." Steph observed.

"'Ace' means 'brilliant' here in England." One of Matthew's friends, John, added while rolling his eyes. He really didn't have the patience to deal with Americans. "Matt, I'll catch you later; still've to study for tomorrow," he said as he walked away from the group.

"That's a real jolly guy there, mate," Finn said sarcastically as he seated himself next to Rory. The boys nodded, agreeing with him, which caused him to smile.

"Rory, I'll talk to you later, alright? I should go study with John." He said in a low tone as he kissed her cheek, noticing that her blush had increased.

"Who was that?" Logan hissed. He had always been very protective of his best friends, and seeing a random guy kiss Rory's cheek didn't sit well with him. "I mean, who does he think he his? Just kissing a girl on the cheek?" He continued on rambling, but Rory ignored him, too happy to acknowledge his rambling.

"What do you mean, who he is? Logan! That's Matthew McCallister! He's only the most popular guy in our year, if not the entire school. Surely you've seen him around! I mean, it's like impossible to ignore him: he looks so good and is always so polite," Steph pointed out, cutting him off. The gang was so wrapped up in their discussion, that they hadn't noticed Rory leave.

* * *

She just really needed time to think about everything and timing couldn't have been worse. Who asked someone out in the week they had finals? As if the tests weren't stressing her enough, no, now she had to think about this stupid Christmas Ball and her date. She slowly made her way back to her dorm; thinking about Matt wouldn't help her at the moment because she had to concentrate on her biology test. She knew Rosemary and Steph would want to talk about her upcoming date with the most popular guy in the school, but she really couldn't handle it at the moment. At the moment she only wanted to talk to her mom about it. She didn't feel ready to date at fourteen. And saying those thoughts to Steph wouldn't help, because Steph had had many dates since they had moved here. Sadly though, not one of those dates turned into a relationship, no matter how well Steph thought it had gone, and Rory had a strange feeling that Colin and Logan were responsible for that, but never dared to say anything to her best friend. Would they do the same thing to her? And why in god's name were they doing it in the first place? It was hypocritical of them, to not allow the girls to date, or have relationships, because Logan had a different girl on his arm every two days and Colin switched weekly. They acted as if they were their big brothers, and in a sense they were, but they should let Steph decide who she dated, and not take her choices away.

She made herself a cup of coffee, using Roberto, their coffee machine, and sat down to continue studying biology. It amused her that her friends always berated her for studying so much, but she wanted to keep her grades up. She had after all promised her dad she would get good grades in Brighton, which was part of the reason he had allowed her to come here in the first place. But studying didn't bother her the way it bothered her friends. She liked it because it kept her mind of off things, like her home sickness and the ever growing distance between her and Logan, the guy she had considered one of her best friends for more than six years, but hadn't really spoken to since their arrival in England. She sometimes wished she could go back in time and just to talk to Logan like she used to.

After a week of continuous studying and taking tests, Rory had almost reached her breaking point. She was currently running on more than ten cups of coffee a day, she had barely seen her friends all week seeing as how she only went to the dining hall to scarf down a bit of food but then would always quickly leave to continue studying. Steph had been avoiding her, like she always did when they'd had midterms; she didn't want to feel pressured to study the amount Rory did.

"Rory, how nice to see you without a book in your hands," Steph said, her voice playfully dripping with sarcasm, tearing Rory from her thoughts. The last midterm had been that morning and now Rory was lounging on the loveseat in their common room.

"Steph, I'm sorry. You know how I get with midterms," Rory replied shepishly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Steph said playfully. "When is Trix sending the car?" They had agreed to go dress shopping that afternoon for the dance tomorrow evening.

"It should be here in half an hour. So let's go get our things from the dorm, and after that we can go looking for Rose and the guys." She began. "Uhm, the guys are still coming, right?" she asked.

"Of course! Finn is totally looking forward to it, he loves being our bag boy! Must have something to do with being raised in a house full of girls." Steph laughed. Finn was known in their group to be the one more attune with the feminine side of his personality, always looking for gossip and participating in their girls' nights, even painting his toenails. Rory laughed at the comment and shook her head. "Colin and Logan, however, aren't that excited to be joining us, they said something about how I never seem to just buy what I need," Steph muttered.

"Maybe it had something to do with the great shopping spree of 96'," Rory remembered with a laugh. Lorelai and Nancy had picked the gang up from school and decided that the girls needed new clothes. The guys, having no other way to get home, went along. Five hours of intense shopping had apparently damaged them.

"They're just being stupid; this time it won't be half as bad," Steph added. "When is Matt picking you up tomorrow night? Have you even spoken to him since he asked you?" She knew that Rory forgot everything that didn't have to do with school around midterms.

"Yeah, he wrote me a text, he's picking me up at eight. Who are you going with?" She had forgotten to ask Rose and Steph who they were going with.

"I'm going with Colin, as a last minute thing, he couldn't get a date and I couldn't decide who to go with." She laughed. Colin was way too shy to ask a girl to the dance and she took pity on him, not wanting him to be the only one of the gang without a date. "And Finn has been proclaiming his love to the redhead from biology, but I don't know if she said yes or not."

"When will Finn ever give up his redheads?" Rory asked rolling her eyes. It was quite embarrassing when one of your best friends always screamed at redheads, saying they were the love of his life. But it seemed to work for him; he always had a redhead to smooch before class.

"When there aren't any redheads left." Both girls laughed at this. "Let's go get Rose; she's probably already waiting for us."

It hadn't been like the great shopping spree of 96', but it had come close. The girls had gone to almost every shop in London, trying to find the perfect dresses for themselves. Money hadn't been an object; Trix had given them her American Express black credit card, saying to go all out. Stephanie ended up buying a strapless, pale-pink dress of semi-embroidered fabric that accentuated her thin waist, hugged her hips, and flared out a bit. A V-slit on the side revealed a less embroidered petticoat. Rose had opted for a blue-green satin dress which had a v-shaped neckline and came to just below her knees. The color brought out her green eyes beautifully. Finally, Rory bought an elegant dress that was sequined all over. It hung beautifully, in a way words can't even describe, both Steph and Rose had been awestruck by Rory's dress. It was strapless, which showed off her collarbones and her petite shoulders. Its rich baby-blue color brought out the best features in her.

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**Author's Note: Come on people, please review! I want your opinion!**


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